College financial aid applications are changing. Here’s what’s new for FAFSA and CADAA in California.

Editor's Note: The FAFSA portal has soft-launched, but will only be available periodically as the Federal Student Aid office monitors “site performance and form functionality.”

The new year accompanies a redesign to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, and the California Dream Act Application, or CADAA, in an attempt to expand its reach to more students from low-income and undocumented backgrounds.

The National College Attainment Network found that $3.5 billion in Pell Grants — federal student aid that does not need to be repaid — went unclaimed when only 58% of the national class of 2022 completed their FAFSA. And in California, 62% of seniors graduating in 2023 completed their application, leaving $500 million of Pell Grants on the table.

Guadalupe Delgado, the director of the California Student Opportunity and Access Program for the Sacramento County Office of Education, describes two types of students who are unlikely to complete a FAFSA form, based on her experience.

“The first group is our middle-class students that feel it is unnecessary to apply for a FAFSA,” she said. “The other group is our lowest income, our students of color who feel that college is not an option for them.”

Delgado is targeting outreach to both groups of students. For middle-income families, the state offers a middle-class student scholarship for families with a gross income over $220,000. And families with a gross income under $220,000 qualify for multiple low-income FAFSA grants.

FAFSA is usually out by October, but this year will be available by Dec, 31. The delay in the release of the new FAFSA, known as Better FAFSA, is a result of changes to the length, the formula and the ease of completion. These changes, implemented as part of the FUTURE Act and the FAFSA Simplification Act, aim to make the FAFSA more accessible and effective.

Key changes in the new FAFSA

Notably, the Better FAFSA will expand eligibility for federal aid to 610,000 new students from low-income backgrounds, and 1.5 million more students will qualify nationally for the maximum Pell Grant amount this year. This is the first time in over three decades — when the form was introduced — the eligibility formulas have been updated.

This expansion is a result of the formula change, which was previously referred to as the Expected Family Contribution and is now transitioning to the Student Aid Index — an index number that a financial aid office uses to determine how much federal student aid the student requires to attend the school.

According to the California Student Aid Commission’s Shelveen Ratnam, along with a formula that encompasses a wider range of students, the language associated with the formula is also important.

“One of the reasons they changed, not just a formula, but the name is because Expected Family Contribution isn't as intuitive,” said Ratnam. “Students were confused because they think that's the amount of money their family is gonna have the country contribute.”

To improve the user experience and promote application completion, students can skip up to 26 questions, complete the form in under 10 minutes and will be able to fill out their section of the form independently of their parent, who can be added as a contributor. The form will automatically populate federal income tax data, adding details that determine a school’s cost of attendance, and remove questions about drug convictions or incarceration.

Ratnam said the intention is to have all students graduating high school apply for Better FAFSA. He and the commission are working with local organizations, like the Sacramento County Office of Education, to ensure the federal and state aid money is used.

Delgado, with the Sacramento County Office of Education, said that collaborating with the California Student Aid Commission was pivotal in increasing engagement.

“We were at 65% FAFSA and CADAA completion and we went to 75% completion,” she said. “We hope that one day we will be at 100% completion.”

Undocumented students are eligible for state aid

Delgado underscores that undocumented students in the region can not apply and benefit from federal financial aid. In her role, the CADAA — which provides financial student aid to Dreamers or undocumented students — is a focal point.

“Our local coalition is really committed to finding and helping those students complete the application so that no money is left on the table,” said Delgado. “But reality is, since the pandemic, we've seen less undocumented students apply.”

The California Student Aid Commission is responsible for administering the CADAA for students statewide, and Ratnam, as part of the commission, has seen a similar trend. He identified a few reasons for the fewer undocumented students filling out the form.

“The undocumented students and families have a right to be afraid about giving the information up to the government.” Ratnam clarified, “It's a state-based application. So the federal government won't be getting any of this information.”

Ratnam said he hopes to ease the concerns of undocumented families in the state regarding their immigration status being pulled federally. Additionally, in California, the Better FAFSA accompanies the Better CADAA, mitigating some major barriers to the completion of the form, explained Ratnam.

Better CADAA has two significant changes: the AB-540 affidavit — which confirms the criteria to apply for financial student aid — and the parental signature verification process will be seamlessly integrated into the form.

Previously, these two portions of the form were independent and a trigger for unsuccessful completion, said Ratnam. “It was one of the main pain points for students they identified filling out the CADAA application and we lost a lot of students at that point.”

Additionally, Delgado is confronting a growing number of students called “early arrivals,” or refugees and recent immigrants.

“Those students typically are not eligible to apply for financial aid yet, especially if they've only been here a couple of months,” she said.

However, immigration status is not referenced in the CADAA, advocated Delgado. She encourages such students to attend county workshops to become familiar with the system for when they are ready to apply and are eligible for CADAA.

To apply for CADAA you must meet the following requirements:

Attendance for three (3) or more years or the equivalent at any of the combination of the following:

California high school
California adult school
California Community College

Three (3) years of California high school credits and three (3) years of total attendance in any combination of elementary school, secondary school, or high school in California,

AND

Graduation from a California high school or the equivalent (GED, HiSET, TASC, CHSPE) OR an associate’s degree from a California Community College
Fulfillment of the minimum transfer requirements from a California Community College to a California State University or University of California campus

How to get help applying for federal and state financial student aid in Sacramento County

Register online to attend a Cash for College Workshop. Families should plan to have the following materials available when attending a workshop:

2022 tax information (Forms 1040 and W2)
FSA ID (for FAFSA filers)
Driver’s license (if you have one)
Social Security card (if you have one)
Alien Registration card (if you have one)
List of colleges you are interested in
Most current bank balances
Any records of untaxed income

Dates of Workshops (any student can attend any of these workshops)

January 9: Valley High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
January 10: Encina High School (In Person, 5:30–7:30 p.m.)
January 11: Elk Grove High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
January 16: John F. Kennedy Trail High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
January 17: Natomas High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
January 18: Rosemont High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
January 23: Florin High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
January 24: McClatchy High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
January 25: San Juan High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
January 30: Hiram Johnson High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
January 31: West Campus High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
February 1: El Camino High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
February 6: Inderkum High School (Virtual, 6–8 p.m.)
February 7: Mesa Verde High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
February 8: Monterey Trail High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
February 13: Sheldon High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
February 15: Cordova High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
February 20: Laguna Creek High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
February 21: The Met High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
February 22: Cosumnes Oaks High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)
February 27: Franklin High School (Virtual, 6–8 p.m.)
February 29: Luther Burbank High School (In Person, 5:30–7:30 p.m.)
March 5: Grant High School (In Person, 6–8 p.m.)

Srishti Prabha is an education reporter and Report For America corps member in collaboration with CapRadio and The Sacramento Observer. Their focus is K-12 education in Sacramento’s Black communities.

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